In Vienna, a collaborative agreement has been reached between three political parties, resulting in the formation of a new centrist government in Austria. This development comes five months after a far-right party emerged victorious in an election but failed to establish its own administration. The conservative Austrian People’s Party, the center-left Social Democrats, and the liberal Neos have agreed on a coalition program, described by Christian Stocker, who is likely to be the next chancellor, as “perhaps the most difficult negotiations on a government in the history of our country.” The discussions took a record-breaking 129 days to culminate, surpassing the previous record set in 1962.
Stocker highlighted that the historical challenges faced by the coalition are significant, citing the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, Austria’s budgetary struggles, and migration pressures. The coalition’s plan includes the implementation of stringent asylum regulations within the European Union country of 9 million people. This strategy involves the establishment of “return centers” for rejected asylum-seekers and the suspension of family reunions. Stocker noted, “Should the number of asylum applications increase, we reserve the right to impose an asylum freeze.”
This marks the second effort by the trio of mainstream parties to form a government that excludes the far-right Freedom Party, known for its anti-immigration and euroskeptic stance. In Austria’s election on September 29, the Freedom Party gained the most votes for the first time, securing 28.8% of the votes. An initial attempt to form a coalition fell apart in early January, leading to the resignation of then-Chancellor Karl Nehammer of the conservative party. This prompted Austria’s president to invite the Freedom Party leader, Herbert Kickl, to form a government.
However, Kickl’s attempt to forge a coalition with the People’s Party, which came second in the election, ended in February amid mutual accusations. The mainstream parties, facing the threat of a new election and potentially unfavorable outcomes, renewed their coalition negotiations, eventually finding common ground.
Christian Stocker, at 64 years old, is poised to become Austria’s chancellor—a position he did not initially seek during the election. With over thirty years in politics, mostly serving as a local official in Lower Austria, Stocker joined the national parliament in 2019. Before ascending to this potential leadership role, the highest office he held was deputy mayor of Wiener Neustadt, near Vienna. His reputation was built as an adept crisis manager, notably as the general secretary of the People’s Party since 2022. Despite previous criticisms of Kickl, Stocker shifted his stance after Nehammer’s sudden departure and engaged in coalition discussions with Kickl.
The current government, led by interim Chancellor Alexander Schallenberg in a coalition with the People’s Party and the Greens, has maintained a caretaker role since the election. Historically, the People’s Party and Social Democrats have governed Austria together, but they now hold a narrow majority in the current parliament, with just 92 out of 183 seats between them, prompting the inclusion of Neos. With its 18 parliamentary seats, Neos has not joined a national government before this. The coalition agreement awaits final approval from the leaders of the two larger parties and a two-thirds majority vote from Neos members, slated for a convention on Sunday.
